The Real Slim Shady

Album

Marshall Mathers LP, The

Label

Aftermath Entertainment

Genre

Comedy hip hop

Composer(s)

Tom Coster/;Mike Elizondo/;Marshall Mathers;Andre Young

Entered Chart

May 6, 2000

Peak Date

Jun 24, 2000

Released

April 18, 2000

Recorded

1999

Catalog #

Aftermath 497334

We were introduced to Eminem through his "Slim Shady" character, which was one of his alter egos along with Eminem and Marshall Mathers (his real name). On this track, Slim goes off in outrageous fashion on his critics, throwing in loads of pop culture/celebrity references along the way (a comedian named Tom Green was famous then). It is meant to be a parody of stereotypical pop songs, although many listeners didn't get the irony. This was one of the last songs recorded for the album. Eminem was under a lot of pressure from his record company to come up with a hit single to get radio play and lead off the album - something similar to what "My Name Is" did for his first album. After working on the beat for most of the day, it came together when Eminem's keyboard and bass player were jamming on drum track Dr. Dre had programmed. Once they had the beat, Eminem put lyrics to it based on all the kids who were dressing and acting like he did. The next morning, Eminem came to the studio and recorded the vocals. Eminem was exhausted by the time they came up with this song. Before they came up with the beat, he was ready to leave the album as it was and use "The Way I Am" as the first single. His record company wasn't about to let that happen. Kathy Griffin, who appears in the video, is the voice at the beginning that announces, "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?" At the time, she was known for her role on the TV series Suddenly Susan. The video features a troop of young men with blond hair dressed like Eminem. They represent the nightmare of many suburban parents - legions of fans who want to be just like Eminem. Report this ad Eminem performed this at the 2000 MTV Video Music awards, in a very memorable performance. Trailed by a legion of lookalikes, Eminem entered from outside Radio City Music Hall and performed the song on the way in. The guys playing the doppelgängers all had to dye their hair Eminem-blond for the performance. The lyrics go out of their way to be offensive. Eminem was trying to create some controversy because he knew it was get a lot of publicity and sell more albums. The radio version is edited. The Wisconsin radio station WZEE was fined $7,000 by the FCC for playing an unedited version of this song. The station claimed a technical malfunction caused the CD player to cue up the wrong track. The FCC also fined Colorado radio station KKMG $7,000 for playing the edited version of this, claiming the song was "patently offensive." The fines were rescinded after the rap industry made the case that banning this is a violation of free speech. Eminem has gotten lots of mileage out of jabs at celebrities in his songs, and he got plenty of attention here with lyrics implying that Christina Aguilera had oral sex with Carson Daly and Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit lead singer). Aguilera denied this and called Eminem a pig, which didn't seem to bother him. At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, Aguilera presented the award for Best Male Video, and when Eminem won for "Without Me," she didn't seem happy. This won a Grammy in 2001 for Best Rap Solo Performance. The album Marshall Mathers LP also won for Best Rap Album. This was Eminem's first #1 hit in the UK, where early on, he was far more popular than he was in his home country. He had UK #1 hits with "Stan" and "Without Me" before reaching the top in America with "Lose Yourself." Like his first hit, "My Name Is," Eminem stopped performing this in concert a few years after it was released. In later years, he would sometimes do a medley of these songs. The chorus from this song was included at the end of Weird Al Yankovic's "Angry White Boy Polka" on his album Poodle Hat. >> Comedian and voice talent Ralph Garman recorded a parody of this entitled "The Real Slim Santa" where St. Nick raps about his substantial weight loss. >> The judge who sentenced Eminem to a fine and community service for pointing a gun at the road manager of the Insane Clown Posse told him in court, "Now is the time to please stand up," a reference to the line "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up.

May I have your attention, please?
May I have your attention, please?
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I think we have a problem here

Y'all act like you never seen a white person before
Jaws all on the floor like Pam, like Tommy just burst in the door
And started whoopin' her ass worse than before
They first were divorced, throwin' her over furniture (agh)
It's the return of the "Oh, wait, no way, you're kidding
He didn't just say what I think he did, did he?"
And Dr. Dre said nothing, you idiots
Dr. Dre's dead, he's locked in my basement (haha)
Feminist women love Eminem
"Chicka, chicka, chicka, Slim Shady, I'm sick of him
Look at him, walkin' around, grabbin' his you-know-what
Flippin' the you-know-who," "Yeah, but he's so cute though"
Yeah, I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose
But no worse than what's goin' on in your parents' bedrooms
Sometimes I wanna get on TV and just let loose
But can't, but it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose
"My bum is on your lips, my bum is on your lips"
And if I'm lucky, you might just give it a little kiss
And that's the message that we deliver to little kids
And expect them not to know what a woman's clitoris is
Of course, they're gonna know what intercourse is
By the time they hit fourth grade
They've got the Discovery Channel, don't they?
We ain't nothin' but mammals, well, some of us, cannibals
Who cut other people open like cantaloupes
But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes
Then there's no reason that a man and another man can't elope
But if you feel like I feel, I got the antidote
Women, wave your pantyhose, sing the chorus, and it goes

I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating (come on)
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up? (Japan)
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?

Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records (nope)
Well, I do, so fuck him and fuck you too
You think I give a damn about a GRAMMY?
Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me
"But Slim, what if you win, wouldn't it be weird?"
Why, so you guys could just lie to get me here?
So you can sit me here next to Britney Spears?
Shit, Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs
So I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst
And hear 'em argue over who she gave head to first
Fuckin' bitch, put me on blast on MTV
"Yeah, he's cute, but I think he's married to Kim, hee-hee"
I should download her audio on MP3
And show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD (agh)
I'm sick of you little girl and boy groups
All you do is annoy me, so I have been sent here to destroy you
And there's a million of us just like me
Who cuss like me, who just don't give a fuck like me
Who dress like me, walk, talk and act like me
And just might be the next best thing, but not quite me

'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?

I'm like a head trip to listen to, 'cause I'm only givin' you
Things you joke about with your friends inside your livin' room
The only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of y'all
And I don't gotta be false or sugarcoat it at all
I just get on the mic and spit it
And whether you like to admit it, I just shit it
Better than ninety percent of you rappers out can
Then you wonder: "How can kids eat up these albums like Valiums?"
It's funny, 'cause at the rate, I'm going, when I'm thirty
I'll be the only person in the nursing home flirting
Pinching nurse's asses when I'm jacking off with Jergens
And I'm jerking, but this whole bag of Viagra isn't working
And every single person is a Slim Shady lurking
He could be working at Burger King, spittin' on your onion rings
Or in the parking lot, circling, screaming, "I don't give a fuck"
With his windows down and his system up
So will the real Shady please stand up
And put one of those fingers on each hand up?
And be proud to be outta your mind and outta control
And one more time, loud as you can, how does it go?

I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up? (Japan)
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up? (One more time)
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up? (Ayy, yo, Japan)

Now throw your hands in the air
And wave 'em like you just don't care
'Cause if you don't give a fuck like we don't give a fuck
Japan, say "fuck yeah"
Say "Fuck yeah" (fuck yeah)
Say "Fuck yeah" (fuck yeah)
Say "Hell yeah" (hell yeah)
Say "Ah yeah" (ah yeah)
Say "Fuck yeah" (fuck yeah)
Say "Fuck yeah" (fuck yeah)
Say "Hell yeah" (hell yeah)
Say "Hell yeah" (hell yeah)

"Yeah, make some noise motherfuckin' Japan"